<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Wolves by lilllac</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23859532">Wolves</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilllac/pseuds/lilllac'>lilllac</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians &amp; Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Frank-centric, Gen, Jason-centric, Reyna-centric, annabeth analysis each of new rome's preators and discovers a few things about them, slightly dark!Frank, slightly dark!Jason, slightly dark!Reyna</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:13:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,438</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23859532</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilllac/pseuds/lilllac</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There is something different about them, it's clear. A strange glow behind their irises and a characteristic sharpness in their smiles. Even Jason, always so sweet and helpful. <br/>The unquestionable truth is that Romans are wolves, and wolves tend to attack. <br/>Annabeth thinks that no one illustrates this better than the three leaders of New Rome.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabeth Chase &amp; Frank Zhang, Annabeth Chase &amp; Jason Grace, Annabeth Chase &amp; Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Jason Grace &amp; Frank Zhang, Jason Grace &amp; Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano &amp; Frank Zhang</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>78</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Wolves</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I love the roman characters a lot and I think they deserve some appreciation. <br/>Also, english is not my first language, so all mistakes are my own, and I apologize for them. <br/>Hope it's still enjoyabe!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Romans are wolves.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>Jason.</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Annabeth had realized that long before Jason explained to her about Camp Jupiter before Piper and Leo told her about Lupa and the House of Wolves.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Because Jason was, in one way or another, Roman, and therefore a wolf.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But it was hard to tell because Jason was all </span>
  <em>
    <span>smiles </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>hugs</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and kind and polite greetings. He treated all campers, from the oldest to the youngest, in the same way, with equal cordiality and companionship.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And Annabeth was forced to compress her lips and pretend not to notice when Jupiter's son sat next to Piper on the couch and his torso automatically tilted, as if it were a kind of natural instinct - as he put an arm around the back of the sofa, not by her shoulders.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>How Jason, almost literally, created a wall around Piper.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And she also pretended not to notice when Jason's eyes traveled around the Big House's main room, irises almost as fast as the electricity bolts with which they were so commonly compared. As Jason scanned every corner, every place, and, even after making sure he was safe, his posture never relaxed - and at first, Annabeth thought it was because Jason was a warrior, and warriors don't ever let their guard down.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But when she pushes Leo's bunker door open without asking for permission beforehand - because they've been working together for so long it seems only natural - and finds Jason leaning against one of the walls, apparently just watching his friend work, and his eyes fly to her so fast, Annabeth barely hears Leo's friendly voice greeting her in the background.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jason's look is not lightning bolt, like Thalia's. No. What makes Annabeth feel chills all over her body and stop for a second in the doorway, hesitant (which makes Leo ask her if everything is fine), are not small volts of electricity.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jason's gaze is more like a tornado, spinning right in front of her and pulling all the air towards him, leaving her confused and out of breath. That day, she learns that Jason Grace doesn't like to be taken by surprise - because he watches her for a single, tense second, the air around her suddenly as cold as a winter night, before relaxing his fist, veins jumping under the skin, and he calmly, slowly returns the coin he was holding to his pocket.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They don't talk about it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But Jason knows that she noticed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And Annabeth isn't sure what to do with that information.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When she finishes what she had to do with Leo and starts to leave, Jason is still watching her. He looks at her while she gathers her things and finally leaves, his gaze never revealing anything but complete indifference.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When she is finally outside, breathing fresh air from Camp Half-Blood and out of Jason Grace's field of vision, Annabeth takes a deep breath. She is not afraid.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But Annabeth is no fool.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As she walks back to Athena's Cabin, she can only think of how little she knows about wolves.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They travel in packs, she thinks. And they hunt for the pack.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jason Grace was a wolf. Piper McLean and Leo Valdez were his new pack. And it didn't seem he would likely hesitate if he needed to hunt.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>Frank.</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Frank is a wolf - literally speaking.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Of course, he can turn into a wolf. Some millennial blessing or curse on his family (at this point, honestly, Annabeth no longer knows how to differentiate between the two). So, of course, he can turn into a wolf. And he seems to like it, even. Later, when Annabeth finds out about the journey of the Roman demigods, she learns about Lupa, and about the House of Wolves, and can't help thinking, with a somewhat emotional smile, that maybe Frank likes his wolf form because it reminds him of the goddess, and what was once his home, before Camp Jupiter.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And then, she sees him in battle, a massive wolf with dark fur, who leaps into the air and sticks white fangs like marble in the flesh of a monster's neck, and for the first time in her life, Annabeth thanks the gods for the beats not having blood, because she didn't know how she was going to deal with the sight of one's neck being ripped out.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The monster dissolves into powder and Frank returns to the ground, quickly returning to his human form. He makes no more than a face, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, before catching an arrow from the quiver and fighting again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The monster that Annabeth is facing hits her in the knee, and she is forced to focus on saving her own life.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But nothing succeeds in removing from her mind the frightening dark eyes of the huge wolf, the fangs biting into the skin, in the automatic, subtle way, with which he had moved his neck and dismembered the monster.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And when the fight is over and they finally return to Argo II Frank offers to help her with the plan for when they land again - and he also brings a cup of hot chocolate which is, like, really nice of him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>In the cabin (accompanied by Piper, because Buford, the table, doesn’t leave her alone with Frank, even though Frank is, well ... </span>
  <em>
    <span>Frank</span>
  </em>
  <span>) he leans in his chair and listens carefully, memorizing each step, and Annabeth thinks about how his mind ought to work while in the battlefield, how that such a generous and educated soul can completely change to allow it to tear out a monster's throat with its own jaw.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Annabeth blinks, confused. Frank is still watching her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>With a bad feeling, she is reminded that Frank is also a wolf.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And wolves can be united and organized, but they are not known to be merciful.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She tells herself that she needs to remember that the next time she looks at Frank's dark and kindly irises and thinks that he is just a helpful and polite little boy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Because Frank is a wolf, and wolves don't get too far from the pack.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>Reyna.</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Annabeth thought Reyna was easy to interpret.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Gods, how wrong was she.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>In the beginning, it is. Reyna is a leader (right), lonely (right), and used to having more responsibility on her shoulders than she should be able to bear (right). Nothing that Annabeth doesn't know from experience.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Both leaders and tormented by the burden. Annabeth thinks they will get along (even after Leo blows up half of her camp), because she can see in Reyna's eyes the same thing she sees in her own, in the mirror. Reyna is not a bloodthirsty military warrior who would be happy to march on a Camp full of other demigods just to attest to Roman glory.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And she is right so far.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>What she does not understand, however, is that their similarities end prematurely.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When Reyna appears, covered in blood and soot, and more ghosts under her name, just after Annabeth and Percy finally see the sunlight again for what seems like the first time in an eternity, she is happy to see it. All she can think about is that Connor got her message, and Rachel managed to convince her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It is only partially true.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Reyna is there, yes, and she got the message from Rachel. She crossed half the world in a Pegasus to be there.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But Reyna is not doing this because they are similar. Reyna is not doing this because she took pity on Camp Half-Blood, or because their short conversation at the Bacchus Garden suddenly made them best friends.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Reyna is doing that because it is </span>
  <em>
    <span>the best for Rome.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She knows that a war would only weaken them and that decimating their camp would be a bitter victory and of little glory.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She's doing so because she's a </span>
  <em>
    <span>praetor </span>
  </em>
  <span>- Annabeth, her friends, and her Greek Camp are just a side effect.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She vaguely remembers something she read about wolf packs, many years ago: the older and weaker of the pack go ahead so that the strongest and healthiest can protect them, should any other animal threaten them from behind...</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span> It is just before Reyna, Nico, and Coach Hedge need to leave with the statue of Annabeth's mother. The girl is simply sitting with the satyr and the other demigod, discussing the best route.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She does not call or look at them or even say anything to them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And yet, Jason, Hazel, and Frank come to her. Reyna excuses herself from the other two and gets to her feet. She is considerably shorter than Frank, and a little bit than Jason, and even then, the two boys talk to her with their heads a somewhat bowed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Annabeth wants to think that it is because of all the exposed blood and wounds - that Reyna just looks wilder in that way, making them hesitant, but that’s not it. The three simply look at her differently - in a way that the Greek demigods would never look at her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The Greeks hope that Annabeth will direct them - guide them. Tell them the best way, the best decision.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The Romans expect Reyna to </span>
  <em>
    <span>order them</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Even Jason, the obviously more steemed to Reyna, is not very close to her. They are friends, but Jason doesn't risk invading the praetor's space, he doesn't risk cornering her. And Frank and Hazel simply watch her with silent admiration.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Their conversation is brief, short, and the three spread out later, Jason going over to Leo and the other two moving a little apart. Reyna returns to where she was with Hedge and Nico, and it looks like the conversation never happened.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But Annabeth realizes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When they prepare to leave, Reyna hugs her for a moment and says:</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Soon, all will be right".</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>To others, it sounds like a promise.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But Annabeth hears what is behind the choice of words, the intonation, the look: everything will be fine. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I'll </span>
  </em>
  <span>make sure everything will be fine. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And she is suddenly reminded of the brief encounter with the praetor in Charleston, before meeting the Mark of Athena, before falling with Percy in hell.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Reyna had let her go without a fight when Annabeth had told her that she would look for the goddess' mark. At the time, Annabeth had realized right away that Reyna didn't want to be doing that, that she didn't want a war.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>However, when Reyna waved cordially to the other demigods as Nico adjusted the straps tied to Athena Paternos, the girl's voice boomed in her head.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I will take you back to New Rome to be put on trial. You will be executed in a painful way.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Someone must pay for what happened, let it be you. It is the best option.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Reyna didn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be cruel.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But if cruelty was necessary to save Rome, if it would keep her Camp safe and avoid a war, then Reyna would not mind dragging an innocent demigod to be executed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Nico waved, and they disappeared into the shadows.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And Annabeth stood there for a while, chewing on the words.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Reyna was not just a wolf.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Reyna was Alpha - she was not only chasing the pack so that the others could move forward safely.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She also pulled off other wolves' heads to keep hers safe.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>[...]</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The battle against Gaia was over, but Annabeth still remembered some details. Like, for example, Frank, who was not a wolf, but a bear. A bear that had just crushed two centaurs with huge paws on its loins. Him digging his open mouth on the shoulder of another monster. Shaking his head and returning to human form. And Annabeth knew he preferred arrows, but she saw him grabbing a fallen sword and driving it straight into the eye of an adult Cyclops who had advanced on it, making the pointy end reappear on the other side his skull. Then, turning and slashing two dracai at once.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Everything after that was a blur. Frank was like a machine of mass destruction, slicing up entire armies of monsters alone, spinning and striking as if his muscles were conscious. At one point, when a monster had stripped him of his weapon, he simply hit him in the torso, hurled him over the shoulder and smashed his head against the floor like a soda can.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hazel had run past Annabeth, but it was difficult to see her when she was riding Arion. She circled a group of monsters until they were cornered against each other and raised the gladius. Arion neighed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Annabeth thought she saw the girl's eyes shining under her helmet before she stepped forward.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They were all demigods, all fruits of Olympus, and destined to live the same miserable destiny, but it was ... hard to get used to the Roman way. </span>
  <em>
    <span>To destroy. Conquer. Win.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was hard to get used to the frightened, almost forgiving way, how the demigods at Camp Jupiter looked at Reyna - and now at Frank, too.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was hard to get used to having a meal with Jason and Frank and not being able to think about stealing some of their food, as she did so naturally with Piper, because Jason and Frank had a second natural instinct, an automatic response, that made them close their eyes, fists and almost literally </span>
  <em>
    <span>grunt</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Annabeth tried not to think about how Lupa had taught them to hunt.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>How the goddess had conditioned them to think of </span>
  <em>
    <span>food </span>
  </em>
  <span>as </span>
  <em>
    <span>property</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>friends </span>
  </em>
  <span>as </span>
  <em>
    <span>threats</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Because wolves were united, but they didn't play with food.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was hard to get used to sharing a bunk bed with Reyna in cabin 6 (because the harpies wouldn't let her share with Nico and she was too much of a headache to go to cabin 7), waking up for water or going to the bathroom and noticing that Reyna woke up, too.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She had once told her that Lupa had taught her to sleep lightly, to avoid surprises - and Annabeth wondered exactly how the goddess had done that. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What </span>
  </em>
  <span>happened to Reyna when she didn't wake up in time? </span>
  <em>
    <span>What </span>
  </em>
  <span>had conditioned her to wake up by the smallest of noises?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Annabeth liked her new Roman friends.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She just needed to remind herself that Romans were a pack of wolves.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That wolves were territorial, protective, aggressive, and cruel. That they would kill if any of their pack were injured. That the wolves had an Alpha - and that that alpha would kill another </span>
  <em>
    <span>entire </span>
  </em>
  <span>pack to keep hers alive.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Romans were a pack of wolves.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>And wolves, more often than not, tended to attack.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>